Hinge and latch mechanism for sofa beds



p 1942- J. JONASSEN 2,295,083

HINGE AND LATCH MECHANISM FOR SOFA BEDS Filed Aug. 24, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS Sept. 8, 1942. J. JONASSEN 2,295,083 I HINGE AND LATCH MECHANISM FOR SOFA BEDS Filed Aug. 24, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A ffo/flvEya Patented Sept. 8, 1942 HINGE AND LATCH MECHANISM FOR SOFA BEDS Jonas Jonassen, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to Spring Products Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application August 24, 1940, Serial No. 354,041

3 Claims.

ment into and out of seat-forming relation.

The invention further comprehends a hinge and latch mechanism which pivotally connects the seat and back sections to each other. and to the supporting frame of the sofa bed for movement of said sections from an angular relation in which the sections are in latched seat-forming position to a horizontal aligned relation in which the sections are in bed-forming position by jointly swinging the sections forwardly and the seat section upwardly to thereby unlatch the said sections and to permit the seat section to be swung downwardly into horizontal relation with the back section and for movement of said sections from said bed-forming position to said seat-forming position by swinging the seat section upwardly into latched angular relation with said back section and then joint? swinging the said sections rearwardly into seat-forming position.

More particularly the invention includes pivot,- ally connected hinge leaves respectively secured to the seat and back sections and a spring actuated latch bar pivoted to the back section leaf and having a notch in its free end normally urged into engagement with a keeper element carried by said seat section leaf for latching said sections in angular seat-forming position together with interengageable cam dog and detent elements pivotally mounted on said latch bar and cooperatively functioning to effect the latching and unlatching of the latch bar and keeper element by movement of the seat section from bed and seat-forming positions respectively.

With the foregoing and other objects in view} seat section swung forwardly andupwardly to position the cam dog for releasing the latch.

Fig. 3 is a similar view illustrating the seat being lowered and the detent swung out of engagement with the cam dog so as to release the same.

Fig. 4 is a similar view illustrating the seat section swung into horizontal bed-forming relation with the back section and the cam dog swung into position to effect the latching of the sections upon upward swinging movement of the seat section.

Fig: 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view thereof.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, A designates generally the frame structure of a sofa bed, B and C the supporting frames I ends on a hinge pin l2 and which are secured upon the supporting frames B and C respectively by bolts l3 or equivalent fastening means extending through the flanges of the leaves, to thereby hingedly connect the sections together to swing on an axis perpendicular to the planes of the leaves.

The seat and back sections are supported by the frame structure A of the sofa bed for joint swinging movement of the sections by'means of links M and I5' pivoted at their lower ends to the opposite ends of a bar l6 which is secured by bolts I! to one end of the frame structure A, the upper ends of the links being pivoted respectively on the hinge pin I2 which pivotally connects the hinge leaves together and to the hinge leaf II on a pivot pin l8 andthe links being of a length to permit of the optional use of the sections in seat-forming position with the seat section resting upon the top of the frame structure A or in bed-forming position with both of the sections swung forwardly and resting upon tions in angular fixed seat-forming relation. The latch bar I9 is normally urged to swing downwardly into engagement of the notch 20 with the keeper element 22 by means of a tension spring 23 having its intermediate portion 24 looped about the pivot pin 2| with one of the ends of the spring anchored in an opening 25 in the hingeleaf II and the other end thereof se-, cured over the intermediate inwardly offset upper edge portion 26 of the latch bar.

For the purpose of securing the seat and back sections in angular seat-forming relation against accidental or unintentional unlatching thereof, and for permitting the automatic unlatching of the sections when the same are swung to bedforming position, the latch bar I9 is provided with a cam dog 21 and a detent element 28 pivoted against the inner face of the latch bar by pivot pins 29 and 30 respectively. The cam dog 21. is formed with a notch 3| extending inwardly from its lower cam edge and which notch is provided with an upwardly and rearwardly curved forward cam edge 32 and a forwardly and upwardly curved rear edge 33 which merges with the inner edge of notch 3| to define a forwardly projecting shoulder 34, the inner portion of notch 3| being recessed inwardly and rearwardly of said shoulder for a purpose to be hereinafter specifled The lower edge of the cam dog at the rear thereof is curved rearwardly and upwardly to provide a stop edge 35 adapted to engage with a stop pin 36 carried by the latch bar for limiting the downward rocking of the forward portion of the cam dog 21. The rear portion of the cam dog 21 is notched to provide a rearwardly projecting stop lug 31 which is adapted to be engaged by the detent element 28 for retaining the cam dog in a position with the forward portion of the cam dog swung upwardly to permit of the release of the keeper element 22 from the notches 2| and 3| in the latch bar and cam dog respectively.

The cam dog 21 is gravitationally rockable on its pivot 29 from the position in which the for- .ward portion of the cam dog is disposed upwardly to permit of the release of the keeper element 22 from the notches 20. and 3| in the latch bar and cam dog respectively to a position in which the inner portion of the notch 3| aligns with the rearward portion of the notch 20 and in which the shoulder 34 thereof is disposed in substantial alignment with a forwardly projecting shoulder 38 at the juncture of the rear of the notch 20 with the lower edge of the latch bar l9, and when so aligned the stop edge 35 of the cam dog is engaged by the stop pin 36 to prevent further downward rocking movement of the cam dog.

The detent element 28 is pivoted on the latch bar I! to dispose the lower longitudinall edge thereof in alignment with the lower longitudinal edge of the latch bar and with the free end of the detent element in the path of movement of the stop lug 31 of the cam dog 21. The lower longitudinal edge of the latch bar I9 is provided with a recess 39 centrally of the lower longitudinal edge of the detent element 28 to permit of the engagement of the keeper element 22 therewith as shown in Fig. 3 to swing the detent element upwardly on its pivot 30 to a position in which the free end thereof is out of engagement with the stop lug 3'! so as to release the cam do 21 for gravitational swinging movement of the forward end thereof into a position in which the notch 3| and the shoulder 34 align respectively with the rearward portion of the notch 20 and the shoulder 38 as illustrated in Fig. 4. The upper longitudinal edge of the detent element 28 is inwardly recessed as at 40 to provide a clearance for the inwardly offset upper edge portion 26 of the latch bar and the latch bar at the xtreme end thereof is provided with an inwardly projecting finger which forms a stop tolimit the upward movement of theforward'portion of the cam dog 21.

when the sofa bed is employed as a sofa, the seat and back sections thereof are disposed as illustrated in Fig. 1 with the seat section resting upon the frame structure A and the back section inclined rearwardly and with the latch bar l9 and cam dog 21 in latching engagement with the keeper element 22to retain the sections in angular seat-forming position.

Whenthe sofa bed is to be employed as a bed with the seat and back sections in horizontal aligned relation, the leaves l8 and l are swung relative to each other to turn the cam dog in a counter-clockwise direction so as to permit the detent element 28 to'gravitationally engage the stop lug 31 of the cam dog 21. This may be accomplished by jointly swinging'the sections forwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2 in which the back section rests upon the supporting structure A and the seat section is inclined forwardly as shown in dotted outline therein. The seat section is then swung upwardly from the dotted position shown in Fig. 2 to the full line position shown therein by which movement the keeper element 22 engages with the forward cam edge 32 of the notch 3| in the cam dog 21 to rock the forward portion of the cam upwardly and permit the gravi-' tational swinging of the detent element 28 to a position in engagement with the stop lug 31 to retain the cam dog with the notch 3| and the shoulder 34 thereof out of aligmnent respectively with the notch 20 and shoulder 38 of the latch bar I9, as illustrated in Fig. 2. When in this position the shoulder 34 of the cam dog 21 is out of the way to permit the keeper element 22 to swing past the shoulders 34 and 38 respectively of the cam dog and latch bar to effect the unlatching of the sections by downward swinging of the seat section from the position shown in Fig. 2 towards bed-forming position as shown in Fig. 3. With the downward swinging of the seat section, the latch bar I9 is' swung downwardly by the action of the tension spring 23 and the keeper element 22 is moved along the lower edge of the latch bar and enters the recess 39 to swing the detent element 28 upwardly out of engagement with the stop lug 31 and with its free end resting upon the rear edge of the cam dog 21 as illustrated in Fig. 4. The cam dog is then free for gravitational rocking movement until the stop edge 35 contacts with the stop pin 36 to limit the downward rocking thereof and in which limit position the inner portion of the notch 3| of the cam dog 21 aligns with the rearward portion of the .notch 20 of the latch bar |9 and the shoulder 34 of the cam dog aligns substantially with the shoulder 38 of the latch bar when the seat section is in horizontal aligned bed-forming relation with the back section, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

In the reverse operation, the seat section is swung upwardly from the aligned position shown in Fig. 4 until the keeper element 22 is engaged in the aligned portions of the notches 20 and 3| of the latch bar and cam dog respectively. The tension of the spring 23 on the latch bar functions to retain the keeper element 22 inthe said aligned portions of the notches and inwardly of 1 the shoulders 34 and 38 of the cam dog 21 and latch bar l9 respectively to retain the seat and back sections in latched angular relation. .The

sections are then jointly swung rearwardly to dispose the seat section upon the frame structure A of the sofa bed with the back inclined rearwardly in seat-forming position as illustrated in Fig. l.

What is claimed is:

necting said sections together and to the supportsections, a keeper element carried by oneofsaid; leaves, a spring. actuated latch bar pivotally con-I nected to the opposite leaf and having a notch L a Y a 7 i0 1. In a sofabedincluding a supporting frame-f and seat and back sections, means pivotally con- .in its free. end normally urged into engagement with said "keeper element for latching said sec. tions in angularseat-forming position, :a detent I element pivoted at one end to the latch bar and a camdogpivoted to said latch bar adjacent said detent element and having a'camfa'ced notch and-a stop.lug,"said cam dog being gravitationally lngable. ;intq 1 position to align the notch therein with the notch in. the latch bar for' engagement of 'said keeper element in the notches ofsaid cam dog and latch bar to latch the sections .in seat-forming relation by movement of the seat j section upwardly from bed-forming position, and

4 ing frame for movement of said sections from? angular seat-forming position to a horizontal. bed-forming position; said means including pivotally connected substantially vertically disposedi leaves secured respectively to-the seat and back said detent element being gravitationally swing? ableiinto engagement with the stop lug of the ,jcamdog upon thecamming of the keeper element against the .cam faced notch or thecam dog seats to retain the cam dog'in a position with the notch therein out of alignment with the notch in the 'latch bar to permitof the swinging of the 1 ,seat section downwardly towards bedeforming poin itsfree end normally urged into engagement with said keeper element for latching said sections in angular seat-forming position, a detent element pivotally mounted on said latch bar and a cam dog pivotally mounted on said latch bar adjacent said detent element and having-a cam so as to rock the cam dog out of latched engage-J ment with said keeper element and to release, the

detent element for gravitational swinging" thereof into. engagement with the stop lugof the cam dog" for retaining the samein released position so as to permit of the unlatching of the latch barlfrom I the keeper. element 'by theswinging of the'seat section downward towards bed-forming tion, and said keeper element engaging saidde 1 tent element to move the same out of engagement with the stop lug of thecam dog upon swinging A of the seat section towards bed-forming position so as to free the cam dog for gravitational swing- 2. In a sofa bed including a supporting frame I and seat and back sections, means pivotally con-- necting said sections together and to the supporting frame for movement of said sections from sitionto effect theunlatching of the keeper element from the notch in the latchbar.

3.- In. a sofa bedincludinga supportingframe r and "seat and back s ectionanmeans pivotally connecting said sections together and to the supporting' frame-for movement of said sections from- .angular seat'vformin'g position to a horizontal bedefo'rming position, said means including pivotally connected substantially. vertically disposed 7 leaves secured respectively to the. seat; and back].

sections; "a keeper element carried'by the seat.

; section leaf, a spring actuatedlatch bar pivotally connected to ,the'back section leaf and having a notch in its free end, normally urged into engagement with'said keeper element'for latching said.

sections mangul'ar seat formin'g position, a detentfe'lement pivotedat, one end to the latch bar o andfja cam. do'gj pivoted to said latch bar adjacent said 'det'ent. element andhaving a cam faced notch and'a stop lug; said ,ca m dog being gravltationally swingable into a position to align the notchtherein with the notchin the latch bar for engagement of said keeper element in the notches of saidcamdog and latch bar to latch the sections in seat-forming relation by movement of ing thereof into a position to co-act w1t h the latch bar for latching. engagement of thekeeper angular seat-forming position to a horizontal bed-forming position, said means including pivotally connected substantially vertically disposed leaves secured respectively to the seat and back sections, a keeper element carried by one of said.

leaves, a spring actuated latch bar pivotally conthe seat section upwardly from bed-forming position, and said detentrelement being gravita tionally swingable into engagement with the stop l g of the cam dog upon the camming of the keeper element against the cam v.faced notch of the cam dog so as to retain the cam dog in a position with the notch therein out of alignment with the notch in the latch bar to permit of the swinging of the seat section downwardly towards bed-forming position to efiect the unlatching of the keeper element from the notch in the latch bar, and an abutment element carried by the latch bar for limiting the gravitational swinging of the cam dog and detent element.

JONAS J ONASSEN. 

